Archie Bunker's Place - Characters

Characters

• Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, a blue-collar worker whose ignorant stubbornness tends to cause his arguments to self-destruct. By the time of Archie Bunker's Place, however, the character has mellowed somewhat and is no longer as explicitly bigoted as he had been during All in the Family, even agreeing to go into business with Murray, who's Jewish, and becoming close friends with him.

• Jean Stapleton continued to play Archie's wife Edith Bunker when Archie Bunker's Place premiered. The show featured Edith occasionally during the first season, but Stapleton decided to leave the series late in 1979; her character was referred to but unseen during the rest of the 1979-1980 season. The writers and producers addressed Stapleton's departure in the Season 2 premiere, explaining that Edith had died of a stroke. Archie reflected on his wife's death and eventually began dating again.

• Martin Balsam as Murray Klein (1979-1981). Murray was Archie's Jewish partner, who held liberal views similar to those of Archie's son-in-law Michael Stivic. Unlike Mike, Murray was much more tolerant and patient with Archie's views.

• Danielle Brisebois as Stephanie Mills, the 10-year-old Jewish daughter of Edith's step-cousin, Floyd Mills. Archie and Edith take Stephanie in after her father, a chronic, unemployed drunk, abandoned her during the final season of All in the Family. Stephanie loved to sing and dance, and her talents were showcased in several episodes.

• Celeste Holm as Estelle Harris, Stephanie's wealthy grandmother, who would often be at odds with Archie over his rearing of Stephanie.

• Allan Melvin as Barney Hefner, one of Archie's best friends and a regular at the bar. Their friendship was first established in 1972 during an episode of All in the Family. He was then married to a woman named Mabel but Mabel died (somewhere around the 1975-1976 season) and Barney married Blanche (played by Estelle Parsons), a friend of Edith's some time around 1977. Blanche left Barney numerous times. Barney divorced her in 1979 and was ordered to pay alimony.

• Danny Dayton as Hank Pivnik, another regular and good buddy of Archie's. He first appeared in 1976 on All in the Family. Hank disappeared with no explanation given after the 1979-1980 season.

• Bill Quinn as Edgar Van Ranseleer (a.k.a. "Mr. Van R"), a blind patron and regular at the bar. He was almost never referred to by his first name. His first appearance was in 1978 on All in the Family.

• Jason Wingreen as Harry Snowden, Archie's former business partner, who continued to work at the tavern as a bartender. Another holdover character from All in the Family, which Wingreen joined in 1976.

• Abraham Alvarez and Joe Rosario as Jose Perez and Raoul Rosario, two Latin-American immigrants employed as assistant cooks at Archie's bar. Archie later learns they are illegal immigrants after they refuse to give a statement to police after having witnessed a mugging.

• Anne Meara as Veronica Rooney (1979–1982), the cook at Archie Bunker's Place. She often made wisecracks and gave Archie a hard time. She insisted that Archie also hire her openly gay nephew Fred as a waiter to help him pay for law school. She was an alcoholic and privately pined to reconcile with her ex-husband, Carmine (who appeared in a few episodes and was played by Meara's real-life husband Jerry Stiller), but knew it wasn't going to happen. Meara appeared sporadically throughout the show's third season and left the show before the fourth and final season.

• Barbara Meek as Ellen Canby (1980–1982). Ellen was a black housekeeper who was hired by Archie after Edith's death. She also took care of Stephanie, and helped keep Archie's tongue in check. Though Archie still harbored some prejudice toward black people by the time she arrived on the scene, he deeply respected Ellen and was grateful for the job she did in helping to raise Stephanie.

• Denise Miller, who joined the cast in 1981 as Archie's 18-year-old niece, Barbara Lee "Billie" Bunker. Billie—who worked as a waitress at Archie Bunker's Place—was the daughter of Archie's estranged brother Fred (and sister of Linda, who appeared once on episode of All in the Family). Her principal love interest was Gary Rabinowitz (see below).

• Barry Gordon, another 1981 addition to the cast as Jewish lawyer and business manager Gary Rabinowitz. Gary quickly began dating Billie, who was 15 years younger than he was. Just like Mike Stivic and Murray Klein before him, Gary's liberal beliefs often contrasted with those of conservative Archie.

• Sally Struthers returned as Archie's daughter Gloria Stivic for several episodes. In addition to the 1979 episode "Thanksgiving Reunion," Struthers returned in the 1982 two-part episode "Gloria Comes Home," where she returns home from California with her son, Joey after divorcing Mike (who had run off to a commune in Humboldt County, California, with an attractive co-ed). The character eventually moved on to her own spin-off series, Gloria. (Note: The original unaired pilot episode to the TV series, which begins with a short cameo by Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, was later repackaged as an Archie Bunker's Place episode).